


Tampered Affect

by tinkertoysdamn



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Culture, Empurata, Jealousy, M/M, Mind Meld, Not Beta Read, Past Mind Control, shadowplay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-13 16:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4528776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinkertoysdamn/pseuds/tinkertoysdamn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Senator Shockwave meets with Megatron for the first time and reveals that he once knew Orion Pax.  Megatron requests more information and Shockwave invites him to read his mind, literally. </p>
<p>One-shot.</p>
<p>Based on IDW continuity, references the storylines "Shadowplay" and "Chaos Theory."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tampered Affect

There was something in the former Senator’s bearing that made even the most stouthearted Decepticons tremble. Megatron wasn’t sure if it was the massive purple chassis, the nearly monotone voice or the single emotionless eye that was so unnerving; but whatever the case, Megatron was determined not to let the other’s appearance disquiet him. The Decepticon movement was young but steadily gaining followers, to turn away a victim of empurata would be a disaster.

“Starscream said that you wanted to see me, Senator?” Megatron asked.

“Shockwave,” the other said, voice flat. “When I am here, I am not a part of the Senate.”

“Fine, Shockwave then.” Megatron had little time or patience for formalities anyway. 

Shockwave got right to the point. “I had plans before my accident—“ that was one way of describing torture and dismemberment –“plans for the future of Cybertron. I thought they may be of interest to you.” 

Megatron held back a frown. He had a grand vision for Cybertron and doubted that one of the elite, even one brought down low, would be of any use. However, Shockwave could be an important ally. He gestured to the other mech to sit. Shockwave spoke, his strange monotone washing over Megatron. It was mostly about energon shortages and some technology he wanted to adapt from his mentor. It wasn’t until Shockwave started talking about the Matrix that his interest was piqued.

“I modified a number of Cybertronians to be possible carriers for the Matrix,” Shockwave said, “most of them died but two show promise: Zeta and Orion Pax.” 

“What do you know of Orion Pax?” Megatron asked. They had met in person only the once, inside the police station at Rodion. Orion had been the one to investigate his case and set him free. Of all the mechs in the world, Megatron had never dreamed that his best encouragement would come from a police officer. 

They had begun a correspondence after that, Megatron would write and Orion Pax would critique or offer a dissenting opinion. Communication had slowed since the Decepticon movement began using more force and Orion’s duties took up more of his time. He hated to admit it, but Megatron missed Orion’s voice and his words.

Shockwave opened a panel in his chassis and extended an access port to Megatron. He held it out in his claw, his impassive eye seeming to bore a hole into the Decepticon leader.

From what Megatron understood, Shockwave had not merely had his face and hands taken but his mind tampered with as well. The port was not one used for more intimate encounters, but Megatron still felt that using it was invasive. “I don’t—“

“We have much to discuss, Megatron and I do not want us to waste time on this one particular.” Shockwave was firm. “Use the port.”

Megatron was a leader, a visionary, and taking orders from a mech who had just joined their cause rankled. He had to weigh Shockwave’s value against his own pride. The Senator’s expertise could help the Decepticons win the war and Megatron could ill afford letting such a mind go. If Shockwave didn’t value his own privacy then there was no problem with Megatron taking advantage. “Very well,” he agreed.

Megatron took the offered cable and jacked in, losing himself in the connection. The first memory Shockwave showed him was the Senate floor. From what Megatron understood a mnemosurgeon would see a crisp, clear image of any given memory, but there was a haze over the scene. The crowd of Shockwave’s Senate was blurry and indistinct. Even the security mechs addressing the crowd, announcing an intruder on the way, seemed unclear. He wasn’t certain if it was the nature of the connection or a side effect of shadowplay.

But when Orion Pax stormed in, dented, damaged and covered in energon, the whole room suddenly seemed brighter. Orion was sharp and clear as he cast down a mech that Megatron knew all too well. Whirl had once beaten Megatron in prison, had been the reason that he had abandoned passivism. Megatron couldn’t help the grin as he saw his former tormentor brought low.

Orion spoke, his voice loud as he addressed the Senate. The speech was one Megatron had heard about in awed whispers from Senators Sherma and Momus. How it had impassioned them and moved them to seek out Megatron of Tarn. If his words could inspire a lowly police officer to storm the Senate to ask a few simple questions than what other wisdom could be found in those texts?

Although their praise had stroked Megatron’s ego, he found that even their hyperbole did not do Orion Pax justice. He was magnificent in his fury and his passion. 

Megatron could feel Shockwave’s interest stirring, mingling with his own. He wondered how strong Shockwave’s past emotions were that they could possibly influence his own, even in this diluted state. Orion was dragged away and the scene changed.

Now Orion was lying on a recharge slab; his chassis open, exposing a giant port carved from his frame. A medic stood to one side, optics fixed on Shockwave. “He’s made it through the operation but there is no guarantee that he could successfully merge with the Matrix,” the medic said. “He’s still under, we could reverse the procedure.

“No,” Shockwave said. His hand traced the curve of the opening. “He’s strong, I have no doubts he’ll make it and if not—“ Shockwave paused; Megatron could feel his thoughts reeling, thousands of outcomes trying to process all at once. “He’ll make it,” Shockwave repeated, voice firm.

The world twisted again, and now Shockwave was sitting on a bench, Orion by his side. Then time passed and it was another moment at that same bench, and another and another: a thousand moments, a thousand conversations with Orion Pax. Sometimes it was about their work, sometimes the state of Cybertron itself. Some days Orion Pax was elated about the changes he was making, some days Orion would hunch quietly, weariness etched into his frame. 

On others Shockwave would instruct Orion on the ways of their world, on how deeply politics corrupted. Then there were the days when Shockwave would spend precious moments complaining about the state of the bench. On the day when Shockwave finally took matters into his own hands and fixed the dratted thing, Orion’s laughter had been startled and rich. That laughter was rare and Shockwave came to crave it. 

With each encounter, Shockwave’s regard for the police officer grew. Orion Pax was that rare creature of integrity. The reports that came across his desk testified to Orion’s behavior as an officer of the law. He didn’t merely speak a philosophy of justice he lived it. Where Shockwave changed his paint as often as the sun moved across the sky, Orion kept his same colors a striking blue and red for as long as Shockwave had known him. It spoke of consistency of character, something Shockwave sorely missed in his fellow Senators. 

There were other meetings as well, secret encounters in hidden places when Senator Shockwave felt that they were being observed too closely. It was in these isolated locations that the temptation to change the nature of their relationship became nearly unbearable. 

Shockwave knew that Orion thought highly of him, but could not break through the other’s polite restraint to see just how much. There were days when Orion would tilt his head in such as way that Shockwave wanted to throw propriety to the wind and see just what was under that faceplate. To take the other’s mouth to his, to claim everything that he wanted. But to risk losing such a valuable ally over an infatuation could ruin everything. 

Then one day all of Shockwave’s best-laid plans were destroyed, not by his selfish desire for Orion, but by his affection for him. Orion had tried to save him, but asking him to choose between Shockwave and the future of Cybertron was too much. Shockwave surrendered himself, Orion helpless to stop it. He could see it in Orion’s optics, the pain and guilt over not saving him. “Remember me as I was,” was the last thing he had ever said to Orion.

Megatron knew what was coming next and yanked the plug out, severing their connection. The Senator’s emotions were heady and Megatron had a difficult time separating his own feelings from Shockwave’s. Yes, he had his own sentiments regarding Orion but this—

How could Shockwave bear to show him this? How could the Senator let him pry so deeply? These thoughts were meant to be private, to be savored and used as a comfort against loneliness and isolation. That Shockwave no longer felt any possessiveness over these memories infuriated Megatron. If they were his memories he would be damned if he ever let anyone else see them. 

“Delete them,” Megatron ordered, his voice sounding harsh even to his own audials. If Shockwave didn’t care then he didn’t deserve them. He had no qualms about letting the ungrateful weakling rot in his own detachment.

Shockwave retracted the port, his optic darkening. “No,” he said. 

Megatron clenched his fist. How dare he--

“However—“ Shockwave shuddered, his frame jerking as if having a seizure. Megatron stood and reached out to him, but the other mech had stopped trembling. He raised his single glaring eye. “Everything we have just discussed has been partitioned,” Shockwave said. “It can be accessed at a later date, but I have no need for it at this moment.” 

He then opened another compartment in his chassis and took out a data slug. “You may hold on to this.” It seemed so small pinched between two of his claws. “You seem to have more need of it than I do.” 

Megatron considered the offering before him. He took the data slug and cradled it in the palm of his hand: such a small thing to contain so many memories, so tiny, so fragile. He gave the gift the full consideration it deserved. With a quick flex of his hand into a fist the data slug shattered. He brushed the pieces onto the ground, his face as impassive as Shockwave’s. “You said we had other matters to discuss.”

He had no need of Shockwave’s pathetic recollections. He was Megatron, revolutionary and soon to be leader of a new Golden Age for Cybertron. He was more than capable of having his own dealings with Orion Pax. And, unlike some, he was strong enough to keep them to himself.


End file.
